Letty Hardi, voted to a third term on the Falls Church City Council by the largest total in the election last November, was chosen by her colleagues on the City Council to be the first new mayor in a decade in the City of Falls Church by a 5-0 vote Monday night. She replaces outgoing Mayor David Tarter who served from 2012 through 2023.

By the same margin, Debora Schantz-Hiscott was elected vice mayor. Two Councilmen, Dave Snyder and Erin Flynn, failed to vote for either. The “yes” votes came from Hardi, Schantz-Hiscott, Carlone Lian, Marybeth Connelly, Justnie Underhill. Underhill and Flynn were attending their first meeting.

In her remarks upon election (printed in full elsewhere in this edition), Hardi noted that as a “first generation immigrant” she was the “first to go to college in her family where English was not her first language” who “now gets to do this job and try to open doors for others.”

She noted that “the Council is now composed of two people of color, three immigrants, some of us with business, private sector backgrounds, some of us with young kids, some even a grandchild now, and tenures spanning from eight days to nearly 30 years.” She added, “and yes, the obvious, we have a new groundbreaking historic Council with six women.”

She went on to recite the accomplishments of the last six years of which she has routinely played a major role as vice-mayor, calling it “an incredible journey of getting caught up on capital infrastructure, working hard to expand and build new schools, parks, sidewalks, a library, a city hall, stormwater, sewer, bridges and other infrastructure that has raised the quality of life. There’s been a lot of building. We’ve persevered through a global pandemic, while diversifying our tax base and revitalizing the city, adding new housing that is welcoming new neighbors, who are then in turn supporting our flourishing business community.

“It is evident,” she noted, that “with our bustling cafes and vibrant, busy sidewalks, our little city is growing up.”

She said the challenge is to “leave the city better for the next generation,” and that the Council‘s challenge is “to do our best to grant each other the assumption of positive intent” that is best achieved “if we stick to facts and civil debates.”

In remarks following her election as vice mayor, Schantz-Hiscott echoed the remarks of the new mayor in calling for “a time of civility.’

In a written statement to the News-Press, Council member Marybeth Connelly stated, “I am excited to get to work on behalf of the people. We’ve got so much positive momentum. The votes for Mayor and Vice Mayor are the first of many to come. Every Council has to overcome differences to work together on important topics. We are all there to serve and we will all be held accountable by citizens — and one another — for our actions and votes.”

Later in the meeting Monday, the assignments of Council members to work on Council committees as liaisons to various volunteer boards and commissions were approved. They included, as reported by the City Clerk, the following:
Appointments Committee: Flynn, Hardi, Lian; Legislative Committee: Schantz-Hiscott, Snyder, Underhill; Government Operations: Flynn, Hardi, Schanytz-Hiscott; Budget & Finance: Underhill, Lian, Connelly; Liaisons to Architectural Advisory Board: Underhill; Arts & Humanities Council: Underhill; Historical Architectural Review Board: Flynn.

Economic Development Authority: Hardi; Environmental Sustainability Council: Schantz-Hiscott; Aurora House: Flynn; Historical Commission: Connelly; Housing Commission: Hardi; Human Services: Lian; Library Board of Trustees: Connelly, Planning Commission: Underhill; Recreation and Parks: Flynn; Retirement Board: Underhill; Transportation: Snyder; Urban Forestry: Flynn; Public Utilities: Schantz-Hiscott.

Chamber of Commerce liaison: Lian, N.V. Regional Commission member: Hardi, alternate Lian; N.V.. Transportation Authority member: Snyder, Alternate Connelly; NVTA PCAC: Underhill; N.V. Transportation member: Snyder, alternate Underhill, Va. Career Works: Flynn, COG Board of Directors member: Lian; Capital Region Transportation Planning Board member: Snyder; Metro Air Quality member: Snyder; Regional Forward Coalition member: Connelly.

Human Services Policy Committee member: Hardi, Climate Energy & Environment Policy member: Schantz-Hiscott, Alternate Snyder, Chesapeake Bay member: Flynn; Regional Food & Ag Policy member: Lian.

The Council also OK’d appointment to various boards and commissions, but the plan to vote Duncan onto the Planning Commission was delayed pending a review by the City Attorney Susan Gillette of the language in the City charter pertaining to the appointment of recent Council members. According to the City Manager’s office, the matter will be left to a vote of the Council at its next meeting.